Anthony Lopez spends 14 hours a week playing “League of Legends.”
He’s practicing.
Lopez, a 21-year-old UF first-year graduate student majoring in occupational therapy, is participating in GatorLAN Saturday at noon in the Reitz Union Grand Ballroom. The event, hosted by Gator Gaming and sponsored by Student Government, is a gaming tournament for local Gainesville residents and students.
GatorLAN will bring Lopez and his team together to play in the same room for the first time.
“It’s going to be a lot more interesting,” Lopez said. “You feel closer with your team. When someone makes a good play it makes it that much better, or if someone messes up, that much worse.”
There are five members on the team, called Worst Team UF.
The tournament will also bring players of other games together. “League of Legends,” “Dota 2,” “Halo 4,” “Pokémon,” “Super Smash Bros.” and “Street Fighter IV” are some of the games participants can register to compete in, said Ed Fonseca, a 21-year-old UF digital arts and sciences senior and president of Gator Gaming.
“It’s a fun tournament,” Fonseca said. “It’s competitive, but we like to bring the gaming community together in Gainesville.”
Pre-registration for the event is required for computer games and can be done through the Gator Gaming website. Registration for console games will be available on the day of the event. Competitors are asked to bring their own computers, controllers and consoles.
Fonseca said the event is open to participants of any skill level.
“It’s really nice just having gamers come together and play and compete against each other in a friendly way,” he said. “We realize that not everyone is there to win No. 1. They’re just trying to have fun.”
A version of this story ran on page 4 on 9/27/2013 under the headline "GatorLAN gaming event this weekend in Reitz — GLHF"
